TIFF – Keyhole

Rating: ****

So far as Guy Maddin movies go, Keyhole is almost comprehendible, which despite the artistry and skill of the film is still kind of a disappointment because if there’s one thing you never want to be able to do in a Guy Maddin movie, it’s follow along. You see, a Maddin movie is one of those experiences where you want to leave the theatre and ask somebody what they thought and nod knowingly as if what he’s describing is exactly the same thing you think you saw and you don’t want to look like an idiot.

Keyhole is a stream on consciousness movie. It’s about life and death, and secrets and lies, and regrets and reconsiderations. Taking place entirely in an ethereal plain made up to look like your typical North American home. The various players appear to be an assortment of characters from the 1930s, gangsters mostly, hold up in a house during a police siege. It’s the end of the line, but the boss Ulysses does not want to fight his way out, rather there’s something he needs to accomplish in the house before the eventual raid.

Of course, that’s the straight-ahead, almost myopic perception of what the film’s all about. Being how this is a Guy Maddin film there’s layer upon layer of subtext, but there’s still this nagging bit about how I could follow along with the story. Where was the confusion? The bewilderment? The befuddlement? You know, all the staples of a Maddin classic. There was the black and white film, and odd moments of ghost falacio that remind you what world you’re playing in. And then there’s the treatment of Winnipeg as a Wonderland of an acid trip, which are all positive steps in the right direction.

This also might be Maddin’s most star-studded cast. Jason Patric plays Ulysses and throws himself into the world of Maddin with tremendous gusto. Isabella Rossellini, a veteran of the worlds of Maddin since The Saddest Music in the World, plays Ulysses’ wife Hyacinth, who fills the film with emotion and mystery. The always reliably creepy Udo Kier goes for daffy comedic, while former Kid in the Hall Kevin McDonald puts in a brief but memorable role as the loose link in Ulysses’ chain.

But like past Maddin films, Keyhole is a marvel of economy. Almost performed exclusively on the single, though complex, set of Ulysses’ house, Maddin makes the whole thing come alive thanks to the energetic performance of the cast, light camera work, and Spartan art direction. In other words, the house comes alive with both ghosts and memories; feeling that’s both nostalgic and visceral.

Walking out of the theatre, you realize that your head doesn’t have that usual ringing that a Guy Maddin film leaves you with, but that’s not to say that there wasn’t a lot to think about. There’s a surprisingly haunted quality that washes over you, and that’s despite the fact that there’s little on the surface to tie your personal experiences to the narrative and the tremendous comedy Maddin infuses the film with. Still, it’s a little nag, and that’s Maddin’s great gift, to smack you in the face with so much emotion, and so many visuals you don’t know what to believe anymore. Bravo sir.

Public Enemies

Rating: ****

John Dillinger may be an American legend, even in his own time, but he’s hardly been done justice, so to speak, on the big screen. The new film Public Enemies, based on the exhaustively researched book by Bryan Burrough, is about as close to fact that any film about Dillinger has probably got. Part docudrama as well as mob drama, filmmaker Michael Mann has put together an all-star cast to bring the true story of the quintessential era of the American gangster to life, creating an ambitious movie that’s large in scope, but still has an art house feel.

Johnny Depp is both an unusual and natural choice to play Dillinger. By far, it’s probably the most “normal” role he’s memorably taken on since Donnie Brasco. Depp’s an oddly appropriate selection to play Dillinger; both are accidental heroes that became beloved in spite of themselves. Depp, the oddly quirky actor who made a name for himself playing relatable outsiders, became a star quite out of the blue when one of those characters caught on like wild fire. Dillinger was a run-of-the-mill criminal, locked up for robbing a grocery store only to embrace the criminal lifestyle while behind bars. After serving his time he became a bank robber, and in the midst of the Great Depression was seen as a kind of Robin Hood figure, sticking it to the man.

But Public Enemies doesn’t go into too great a detail about why Dillinger was a hero to the people, so the story kind of lacks context. Indeed, many of the criminals labelled “public enemy” were at once feared and beloved for their criminality. In an era where corporate greed had caused so much suffering, people like Dillinger were giving them a taste of their own medicine, especially seeing as how they refused to take money from individuals even when it was offered to them. Context is what was missing, and I think that if you’re someone who’s not overly familiar with the era then there may be a disconnect in knowing why Dillinger was Dillinger.

The other part of the story has to do with the birth of the FBI, and the dogged Agent Melvin Purvis, played by Christian Bale. To be frank, the FBI portions feel kind of marginalized, and kind of Law & Order-like in their straightforward procedural manner. The politics surrounding J. Edgar Hoover - brilliantly, though briefly essayed by Billy Crudup – and his push to create the Bureau in his own very restrictive image are touched on, but not elaborated. Bale himself seems kind of restricted in his role, like he’s wearing an uncomfortable suit.

On other matters, Time film reviewer Richard Corliss unleashed a can of worms concerning Mann’s use of digital for the film. For my part I think that while the film does look great, it’s not an aesthetic that suits the subject matter. It’s just too clean, too precise. For a movie that calls back to classic gangster pictures of old, there’s just too much of a modern feel here. That’s not a huge complaint, but it is something that stuck out in my mind during a couple of scenes: things just look too good. Mann’s been great about pushing the technology between Collateral and Miami Vice, even though it was kind of novelty in that last one, but I think Public Enemies should have been one of those times when a step back would have been the better choice.

But having said all of that, I was enraptured by the film; the personalities, the time, the story, they all just clicked perfectly. Depp ably and expertly leads the ensemble and shows his ample charm and charisma as Dillinger. From the action to the production design to the costuming, everything just clicks together to make the movie work despite its few technical flaws. Though it clocks in at nearly two-and-a-half hours, Public Enemies actually flies by and is truncated enough to stay focused on the main story it’s trying to tell, without feeling like it’s losing much aside from what I stated above. A very well done film all around and a special treat for lovers of classic gangsters.

Taken

Rating: ***1/2

Liam Nesson as former intelligence agent Bryan Mills in Taken is about as bad ass as Jason Bourne and Batman combined. He makes Jack Bauer look like a kindergarten teacher and a kindergarten teacher like a sock puppet. As far as revenge pictures go, Taken is a high energy, no holds barred roller coaster through the Parisian underworld. Shot with highly kinetic action and frantic pacing by Pierre Morel, who directed the excellent parkour-inspired District 13, Taken pushes the right buttons to do a little better than the average revenge-fuelled, action picture thanks to a decently played out story and a seriously Mad-as-Heck leading man.

But it all begins with Bryan’s daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and her desire to spend two weeks of summer vacation in Paris with her friend Amanda. Being a former super-spy, Bryan’s hesitant, but his daughter’s happiness is his paramount concern so he gives her the okay. But no sooner does Kim arrive in Paris that she’s taken by kidnappers while on the phone with Bryan. After hearing his daughter scream as she’s taken away, Bryan tells the kidnapper, “If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

And the chase is on. Bryan has 96 hours to recover Kim before she’s gone forever, the probable victim of an Albanian smuggling ring that takes young, female tourists and forces them into a life of heroin-fuelled prostitution. Filled with over-the-top action, Taken’s like a SVU episode of the Bourne series with corrupt cops and sex traffickers. And at the centre of it all is Neeson putting on a pretty scary façade as a father prepared to do anything to secure his daughter’s safety. The violence is relentless, but it’s actually kind of bloodless. It is attention grabbing though; it’s an edge-of-your seat, action thriller where the only question is how bad Bryan’s going to tear up the kidnappers.

It’s simple, sure. Coincidence abounds in this film that sees Kim get into trouble in about 90 seconds after getting off the airplane in Paris, just like her father predicted. And Bryan seems unusually adept at tracking down a group of unknown gangster across a foreign city. But hey, who cares? We didn’t come here to ask questions, we came to be entertained. And Taken certainly does deliver value added entertainment with revenge fantasies and thrilling kills. We know who the good guy is and we know who the bad guys are and what they deserve. It’s so wonderfully cut and dry; the kind of filmmaking simplicity that can only come from the French. For what Taken is, it’s perfection.